Building the ultimate Festiva street suspension...

[mikemounlio]

Parts came in today. Still messing with hottunning to get the front coilovers but parts are flowing in

[Advancedynamix]

No, 10" will work too. I just prefer to have as much adjustability as possible.

[Skrapbob]

[QUOTE=Advancedynamix;705522]Sorry I wasn't able to chime in sooner. I was at the track all weekend doing more development work on this exact topic.
Here is the quick break down on the ultimate low dollar street worthy track car.

Mk2 vw coilovers in the front. You can get a pair of the cheap ones that hottuning sells on ebay for under 200 dollars. They work better than the expensive bilstein 40mm ones I built years back. They are worth the money, and they are completely servicable, so (if you ever manage to blow them, which I haven't yet) you can rebuild them for less than 50 bucks.
You will want 120lb 12" front springs (2 9/16 diameter) on a car with stock engine placement. 150lb 12" springs with a forward mounted engine, possibly 175"lb fronts with a bp that's forward mounted.[QUOTE=Advancedynamix;705522]


I am confused and ready to send my 10" front springs back for a set of 12". Do I need 12" springs now for the front threaded struts?

[TominMO]

The requirements for maintaining traction under acceleration starts becoming more of a concern around 120ft-lbs of tq in a festiva. Slower rebound dampening in the front becomes more advantageous. This works to keep the weight over the front wheels instead of transferring it further back.
The art of FWD performance driving is hinged upon diving into corners and pulling hard out of exits. If the front of the chassis lifts under acceleration, it drastically affects the cars ability to exit corners under hard throttle.

Thanx.

[Advancedynamix]

When I put them on the road force balancer at work. All 4 had 35-45 lbs of road force. Spec for a p tire is like 24 lbs. I checked my wheel run out with the machine and all were straight so I'm pretty definite its just the tires.

This makes sense. I have thought about having mine trued. I think they must be blems or something.

[Advancedynamix]

So hottuning will sell just the front ones? I'm pretty much set for the rears, as you know.

Why the difference in advice for > 120 ft-lbs TQ? Given the same car weight.

The requirements for maintaining traction under acceleration starts becoming more of a concern around 120ft-lbs of tq in a festiva. Slower rebound dampening in the front becomes more advantageous. This works to keep the weight over the front wheels instead of transferring it further back.
The art of FWD performance driving is hinged upon diving into corners and pulling hard out of exits. If the front of the chassis lifts under acceleration, it drastically affects the cars ability to exit corners under hard throttle.

[shorestiva]

I'm not happy with my 175 50 13 nankangs either Joe. I wouldn't buy another set of them. The Festiva shake was obvious with them, but went away completely when I put my 14's on.

When I put them on the road force balancer at work. All 4 had 35-45 lbs of road force. Spec for a p tire is like 24 lbs. I checked my wheel run out with the machine and all were straight so I'm pretty definite its just the tires.

[mikemounlio]

yes they will let the front go only. They will take 200 for them.

[TominMO]

So hottuning will sell just the front ones? I'm pretty much set for the rears, as you know.

Why the difference in advice for > 120 ft-lbs TQ? Given the same car weight.

[Advancedynamix]

That's correct Tom, I'll go back and fix that to avoid confusion. That is Southwest Speeds version of a 2.5" spring. They are a typical 2.5" spring dimension, but for some reason they list it accurately to the i.d. if the spring instead of a generic 2.5.

Also, yes. Those are kyb strut mounts for an '01-'02 Kia Rio.

I've never had options when buying the ones I use. I would recommend the ones for the base model 1.8L or Golf mk2 (1985-1992) for a B3 or B6 car that is not turbo and street driven. If your car is making over 120ft-lbs of tq, I'd recommend the setup for a MK3 golf vr6 (1995-1999 2.8l gti). The vr6 has stiffer springs, and may have come with slower rebound dampening to control the body of the heavier car with more TQ.
The setups I've been using are generic for all mk2/3 variants, and come with stiff enough springs for a VR6 mk3 (possibly too stiff), so I would assume they are valved heavily as well.

[TominMO]

Sorry I wasn't able to chime in sooner. I was at the track all weekend doing more development work on this exact topic.
Here is the quick break down on the ultimate low dollar street worthy track car.

Mk2 vw coilovers in the front. You can get a pair of the cheap ones that hottuning sells on ebay for under 200 dollars. They work better than the expensive bilstein 40mm ones I built years back. They are worth the money, and they are completely servicable, so (if you ever manage to blow them, which I haven't yet) you can rebuild them for less than 50 bucks.
You will want 120lb 12" front springs (1 9/16 diameter) on a car with stock engine placement. 150lb 12" springs with a forward mounted engine, possibly 175"lb fronts with a bp that's forward mounted.

Charlie, here in post #41 you meant 2 9/16" I.D. for the front springs.

In that same post, first pic, are those top hats Festiva or '01-'02 Rio? If Festiva, do you know if the Rio ones work?

Which MK2 VW coilover set is the best one for us? Hottuning has about 5 sets on eBay, for different motor applications.

[Advancedynamix]

I'm not happy with my 175 50 13 nankangs either Joe. I wouldn't buy another set of them. The Festiva shake was obvious with them, but went away completely when I put my 14's on.

[TominMO]

Achilles Platinum 7, 165/65-13, and also in 175/60-13.

Note that both of these tires are very slightly smaller in diameter than a 155/80-12! So they will fit in the stock Festy spare tire area. You could have 4 on the ground and 1 as a spare, all on steelies for a good cheap setup. This plus coilovers for a total of ~$600 for everything gives great handling in a sleeper.

[TominMO]

Any recommendations for 13's

Achilles Platinum 7, 165/65-13, and also in 175/60-13.

[shorestiva]

I just bought a set of nankang as1 and they suck big ones.